


A Heartbeat, or a Lack of One

by orphan_account



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: A Little Less Sixteen Candles A Little More "Touch Me" (Video), Alternate Universe - A Little Less Sixteen Candles (Music Video), Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, Female-Centric, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Road Trips, Snuggling, Useless Gay Pining, Vampire Bites, Vampire Hunters, Vampire!Pete, Vampires, and her eventual girlfriend, because i know you all like to suffer, everyone's favourite bisexual vampire, except there's two other people there, excessive discussion of the Avengers, fem!fall out boy, how the hell do tags work, jo and andi are wingwoman goals, road trip karaoke, sleep-deprived people, the "oops we're stuck in a confined space for an extended period of time" trope, there's making out eventually, what could possibly go wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-04-21 12:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14284512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Of course, the the Sixteen Candles Hunter's Agency weren't expecting a vampire epidemic to break out in Vegas, of all places. And when they're called in to help, the only problem is getting there. It's four girls, one of whom's a vampire, stuck in a van together for four days, driving halfway across the country. And of course, nobody accounted for the very real possibility of romance along the way.





	1. quality bonding time.

**Author's Note:**

> So, hello AO3! Long time lurker, short-time poster. This is the first of my fics that I've really felt comfortable posting. I've got so many ideas for a fem!Sixteen Candles AU, and honestly, I'm having so much fun writing this.  
> Enjoy!

Trish could feel her heartbeat thrumming in her chest as the van rumbled along the deserted highway. A constant rhythm - one, two, three, four, one , two, three, four. Steady, grounding, almost musical. And there was something oddly comforting about it. A beating heart, something she shared with every other person on earth. Not literally, of course. But everyone else could feel what she could, a drum so familiar, one that always kept pace–  
And then, of course, she remembered Petra. The dark-haired girl, tattoos snaking up her arms, choppy black hair windswept with head half out the passenger seat's window. Petra, who of course didn't have a heartbeat, at least not anymore. Petra, who was somehow, miraculously, on their team.  
"Hey, Trish!" she yelled, half-out the window and half at the girl beside her, snapping the strawberry-blonde out of her trance (which was probably a good thing, considering she was driving.) "I'm fucking ALIVE! Metaphorically!"

  
Trish could only manage a small chuckle accompanied by an eyeroll. Her usual behaviour, but as she watched the wind whip Petra’s hair back, she realised she wasn't going to risk a repeat of The South Chicago Incident. "I get it, you're like a dog when it comes to driving with open windows. But seriously, close it."  
Petra pouted. "But _why_ , Pattycakes?"  
Trish wrinkled her nose at the use of the nickname, much to the delight of Petra. "Because you and I both know that when the bloodlust kicks in, you'll be jumping out of that window in two seconds flat. And I'm not waking Jo and Andi up to go looking for a hungry vampire in the middle of fucking nowhere." She gestured to the two girls sleeping in the back seat, sprawled over three pillows and a tangle of equipment.  
Reluctantly, the elder girl slumped her shoulders and rolled up the window, falling defeatedly back onto the headrest. "I mean, Jo should have thought about this before she packed us all up into this dumb van."  
Trish had to concede Petra had a point. Jo had been insistent that her van was absolutely the best way to get the four of them up to Vegas to help control a vampire epidemic - and while it seemed like a good idea at the time, when they set off at sunset with Trish (stupidly, in hindsight) volunteering to drive first, it appeared they'd made some oversights. Turns out that that between ten thousand pieces of hunting equipment, clothes and an entire cupboard to function as a makeshift coffin, there wasn't much room for sleeping. Not even getting started on how they were accommodating the needs of their resident vampire.  
  
"Whatever, you dumbass. I'd say get some rest, but you're kind of nocturnal now. And I'm on the night shift. Good for me."  
Petra placed a hand on her chest, in mock offence. "Why wouldn't you want to spend quality bonding time with your bestest friend forever, Trishy?"  
Trish let out a long, exasperated sigh. Though she'd never admit it to her face, for all her irritating playfulness and perhaps-too-frequent vampiric urges, Petra was her closest friend and knew it. They'd known each other long before her bite, long before any of this Sixteen Candles Hunter's Agency stuff started. And in a world where it was getting increasingly harder to know what was real, Petra proved she was trustworthy, at least to Trish. She knew it for certain the day she'd been turned, she kept proving it every day when she battled the urges in her mind. If she was willing to fight that storm for them - well, there wasn't much question in Trish's mind over where her loyalties lie.  
  
"I know we're gonna go to Las Vegas and stake some vampires, but who exactly called us? There's no way that Vegas doesn't have any hunter's agencies to deal with it," she asked suddenly, the question she'd been meaning to ask for a while popping back into her mind.  
"Yeah, they do, but it's like, really bad there." Petra turned to Trish, cheek resting against the headrest of her seat. "A bunch of their own hunter's agencies kinda joined together and decided they need backup. Specifically, I got the call from people named Bebe, Hayley, Gabe and Brendon."  
"Who would be?"  
"De-facto leaders of some of the groups of hunters there," Petra smiled proudly, her razorlike fangs on full display. A few months ago, they would have unnerved Trish, but she had to say she'd gotten used to them. "I did my research. Bebe works alone, mostly, but she's ridiculously good-”

“I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”

“She used to live here, we were friends. We did monster-hunty-stuff together. I mean, you barely knew her, and this was before you even believed in any of this, but yeah.”

“I think I remember her now...I always thought she was nuts. Even more so than you.”

Petra smirked. “Look who’s talking.”

She absent-mindedly picked a piece of fluff off her hoodie before continuing.

"Anyway, Hayley's got two others working with her, Gabe's got four, Brendon's got two, and he’s the only one actually based in Vegas. Hey, we're gonna be part of the vampire-hunting-Avengers!"  
Trish rolled her eyes - again - but there was no malice in it. “What, we’re not already the Avengers on our own? I like to think I’m a pretty decent Tony Stark.”  
Petra let out a hearty laugh, eyes crinkling at the corners. For someone who was technically dead, Trish noticed, she had an infectiously cheeky smile, knife-like canines included. And even through her own tiredness, the younger girl found herself smiling down at the steering wheel.

“What does that make me? Hulk?” the vampire grinned.

“Probably. We all know what happens when you get pissed, Petey,” she smirked, returning Petra’s own.

“So what does that make the others? Jo’s totally Thor. But, like, especially Ragnarok Thor. You feeling me?”

Trish nodded with a snort of laughter. “Oh my god, yes. And Andi-”

“Gives me Hawkeye vibes-”

“Holy shit, that’s exactly what I was thinking!”

They both dissolved into fits of giggles that filled the cramped space, and Trish was pretty sure she’d crash the van if they kept going. Maybe she could survive the next three days of driving if it was just joking around like this, down the open road without a care in the world, with Petra’s contagious hoots, Jo and Andi too…

But no, they weren’t carefree. They had a place to be, they had a job to do, and on top of that, they had to make sure that Petra kept herself under control. Maybe they’d get close to that dream. But she knew, deep down, that it’d never happen.  It wasn’t her fault, she knew that, but sometimes she couldn’t bare the fact that Petra wasn’t human.  
And then, chortles faded into the silence.  
Neither girl was entirely sure what to say now, not out of cowardice but more due to the fact neither knew exactly how to continue the conversation. And though one part of her brain was screaming to keep talking, Trish somewhat reluctantly returned her attention fully to the road, staring blankly out at the expanse in front of her illuminated only by the occasional flickering streetlight. Was this awkward? Was this how conversations ended? Did she want it to end? It occurred to her that she normally wasn’t this conscious about ending conversations - and usually, she and Petra could talk for hours. But it felt different this time, and she almost couldn’t bear to look back at her. Not for any rational reason, she supposed. But just in case.

And slowly, she became more acutely aware of her own heartbeat again, the way it slowed from a flutter moments ago to a steady rhythm once more. tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump. One, two, three, four, she'd forgotten for moment that Petra's heart wasn't beating in sync. And maybe she didn't want that moment to end, just yet.  
And so absorbed in her own heartbeat and the washed out glow of the headlights, Trish hasn't noticed the vampire's eyes hadn't drifted from her, a mischievous glint melting into something fonder.


	2. The Dawn of The Second Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Trish can't catch a break, and Andi and Jo start plotting.

God, Jo was an  _ asshole.  _

Trish had a certain way she liked things to be done, they’d all known that since the day they’d met her. First rule, no loud and obnoxious antics before six am in her general vicinity. Second rule, no random overly touchy-feely things. Third rule, communicate what was going on. 

Of course, they’d all apparently been thrown out the window by the curly-haired girl beside her, or rather, on top of her. Jo had somehow twisted herself half into the front seat, legs flying god knows where - likely Trish’s face, if their flailing was any indication - and hooting loudly. Trish shoved her off with a loud, exasperated groan. The other girl crashed to the floor with a squeal, and another grunt from Andi - who Trish presumed she’d landed on top of. 

She swung her head around the seat, glaring at her vanmates with as much energy as she could muster.

“First of all - the fuck?”

“We thought-”

“ _ You _ thought-” Andi interrupted Jo with a nudge, and a pointedly apologetic glance back at the redhead. 

“Fine, I thought that it’d be funny to wake you up early. Like that.”

“By attempting to do the worm on the dashboard?

Jo stifled a giggle. “That was totally the plan-”

“-except she got stuck, dumbass. I kept telling you it was an awful idea.”

Trish could do nothing but slowly facepalm, rubbing her eyes.  “You’re on driving duty, but honestly I don’t trust you to not drive off a cliff.”

She heaved open the door and clambered out, bare feet making contact with the bitumen road. 

“Someone’s gotta piss you off when Petra’s asleep!” Jo called after her with a snort of laughter. She had no idea where she’d actually pulled over to stop last night, and from the looks of it, neither did anyone in a hundred-mile radius. Some vast expanse of patchy grass and bushes and the occasional dead tree rolled over the horizon on either side, with not a single other automobile in sight. Hellishly boring. Somehow, it was one of those places that a sunrise still couldn’t make vaguely appealing. It was a miracle they hadn’t been murdered in the middle of the night, upon further consideration - but that being said, she wasn’t entirely sure there was any form of life here to begin with, let alone one that could kill them.

Between her unpleasant start to the morning and this utter dullness/murder-ishness, she really had to wonder why people found roadtrips appealing.

“We’re somewhere in Nebraska, I think?” she murmured, clambering into the back of the van as the others exchanged positions. Jo grinned from the front seat. “Hey, there’s no cliffs for me to drive off!”

Trish glanced out the window at the absolute dullness again. “Petra was saying you can see the stars really clearly out here. That’s nice, I guess.”

Jo hit the ignition. “Oh, Petra, Petra,  _ Petra _ , blah blah blah…we get it, Patsy.”

“I swear to god, I thought we left ‘Patsy’ behind in third grade, Jo,” she rolled her eyes, trying to stop her cheeks from flushing a scarlet hue. It was the because of the nickname, right? That awful one that an eight-year-old Jo had always called her, and that everyone had outgrown? That was why she was blushing. No other reason. It was understandable. Definitely a normal thing to be embarrassed about. 

Jo only chuckled teasingly. “Please, I know you stopped caring about ‘Patsy’ ages ago.” 

Trish could only feel her face reddening as she sunk back into her seat. Jo was right, she knew that. Why was she burning up now?

“Not true,” she squeaked.  _ God, Trish, pull yourself together... _

Jo shrugged. “Whatever, but don't pretend you don't care about her…” She pursed her lips and sped up the van, much to Trish’s relief. Jo was being absolutely ridiculous. She knew she loved to get on her nerves, that was all that this was. Nothing more. 

Trish quietly sighed and rested her head back. She might as well attempt to make up for the lost hours of sleep, no matter how difficult it was too get comfy. Petra was lucky, sleeping in that cupboard. At least she had a flat surface and a pillow - hell, it looked cosy. She'd take that claustrophobia over this weird backbend of a sleeping position any day. 

 

\---

 

“She's asleep, right?”

“Out dead. Poor girl got three hours of sleep last night. She’s not waking up anytime soon.”

“Jesus Christ, Andi, you're talking like you just murdered her.”

Jo moved to turn the van radio off, raising her eyebrows.

“Anyway, Jo, you were saying?”

The brunette's eyes lit up like Christmas trees, and her mouth twisted into a smirk that seemed to be her default. “They're totally fucking.” 

Andi glanced at Jo. “Nah. We’d know. But they're completely into each other. “

She had to wonder if Petra and Trish even had an iota of a clue that either of them were such gossips. Probably - but about them? They loved them dearly, but Trish was a special kind of oblivious to the obvious, and Petra was probably too concerned with other things to even give it much thought. 

“Good point. Trish is an awful liar, and even worse at hiding happiness. We’d be able to tell. Did you see how red she was though?”

“Oh, yeah. Honestly, I don't even know if she knows she's into her yet. But there's no way she isn't.”

“-and Petra,”

Andi chuckled. “Petra's more obvious than the fact that the sky is blue. We've all been putting up with the way that she flirts with her for...what? How long now? Is Trish getting the hint?”

Jo dramatically clutched her heart, causing Andi to lunge over to grab the steering wheel,

“Fucking hell, Jo, you're gonna ge-”

“They don't know that their pining is MUTUAL! Andi, we can't just let this go!”

“You let the steering wheel go,” she grumbled.

“To hell with the wheel! Those two losers are made for each other!”

“Yeah, yeah, can you please take over steering again?”

With enough dramatic flair to rival a Broadway production, she gripped the wheel again, a devilish smile reappearing as she pushed down harder on the pedal. “Operation: Get The Edgy Vampire and The Lovable Dork Together officially begins now.”

“When you're not trying to get us killed, you know, I can actually get behind this.”

“It'll be just like Twilight, but gay!”

“And there we go. You ruined it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait! Been very busy with work lately, and some other writing projects that you guys might see soon. Though this chapter's a bit shorter than I would have liked, I'm glad I didn't abandon this! Jo is very quickly becoming my favourite character to write, haha.  
> Side note: I'm considering rewriting the first chapter at some point, as I'm not too happy with it. If I get around to it, I'll probably go back in and change it, so keep an eye out x


End file.
